Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Rallye Concept

Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Rallye Concept

Man, I can’t remember the last time I was as stoked about a rally car as I am about this one. Ever since the rally scene migrated from awesome sedans (Lancer Evo, WRX, or that magnificent Skoda Octavia), I was a bit disappointed watching small city cars tackling the courses. They are supremely fast, granted, but lack the drama, or the seriousness of the larger machines. Or sports cars. And that is where the newest Porsche Motorsport Rally concept comes into play. This is the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Rallye Concept. A mouthful isn’t it. Well, after I saw it the first thing I thought about was the 959 Dakar Porsche from the Eighties. It was sublime and, while the new Cayman GT4 Clubsport Rallye isn’t a 918 Rallye, I feel happy to have an opportunity to see it at all.

Porsche’s Future in Rally Sport

The Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Rallye Concept is only a prototype created to appear at the Rallye Deutschland

The Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Rallye Concept is only a prototype created to appear at the Rallye Deutschland where Porsche plans to assess the reaction of the rally scene and contemplate on whether or not to create a production mode.

“The decision if a similar car based on a future model could be developed will be made later in the year.”

This quoted sentence is actually from the Porsche Motorsport Twitter account post where they have showcased the Cayman GT4 Clubsport Rallye. With it they’ve implied that if this Cayman rally car creates enough of a fuss, they will create an all-new version based around the upcoming 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.

I hope that Porsche will start building rally cars again. The 718 Cayman is just the perfect basis for something that outrageous.

What we Know

This FIA approved class has rally cars competing only on tarmac tracks

Although proudly presented at the Porsche Motorsport Twitter account, the new rally Cayman is still a bit of a mystery. Porsche is tight-lipped about what it had done to the car. Yet, I can see some cool stuff on it. First of all, Porsche Motorsport installed awesome removable lights at the front. A roof scoop will give even more air to the engine with the steel skid plates protecting underside mechanicals. All of this is really important for the rally stages this Cayman will compete on.

Add to this a set of white rims and Michelin Pilot Sport tires, and we have an alluring package crafted around WRC R-GT regulations. See, although I did mention small WRC cars at the start, this Cayman GT4 Clubsport wouldn’t race them. It is crafted to explore a special narrow niche of the motorsport called the R-GT. This FIA approved class has rally cars competing only on tarmac tracks. While this limits the level of propostrity Porsche could make, it also gives us a hint that the R-GT class may become far greater than ever before. Up until this point, only privateer teams competed in the R-GT class. Imagine all the fuss Porsche Motorsport would create by entering it with a weapon such as the 718 Cayman Clubsport Rallye.

Is This An RD Limited Built Car?

Current record holder at Pikes Peak with the I.D. R, Romain Dumas, will sit behind its wheel on 16th August when the Rallye Deutschland starts

It does not seem that Porsche is holding back with this prototype at all. Current record holder at Pikes Peak with the I.D. R, Romain Dumas, will sit behind its wheel on 16th August when the Rallye Deutschland starts. Dumas is well known in rally circles, and he had already made his name in the R-GT class winning in Monte Carlo last year. That happened with a 911 GT3 RS prepared specifically for the task.

This got me thinking. See, Romain Dumas actually has a company called RD Limited. There he builds… rally cars, and, as R-GT rules apparently allow the privateers to build their own machines, I would not be surprised if this Cayman GT4 Clubsport was actually the work of RD Limited. I also think that Porsche then decided to additionally support the project. The Cayman GT4 Clubsport Rallye Concept surfaced.

It does not matter if this is true or not; the thing seems to be really interesting. Sporting the same 3.8-liter six-cylinder engine as before, the Cayman GT4 Clubsport disposes of with 380 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque. All of that is channeled to the rear wheels via a superfast PDK and special race-ready limited slip diff.

Conclusion

Whether Porsche enters the rally business once again or not remains to be seen. However, you can help a lot just by loving this car. I love it. It is an exercise in insanity which gives us something more interesting to watch on rally stages (tarmac ones) other than extreme machines that happen to wear some styling cues of city cars. With Porsche Motorsport assessing the entry in the segment with this very car, rumors have it that Alpine is doing much the same. Imagine seeing the Cayman GT4 Clubsport Rallye competing with the Alpine A110 Rally. Both of them would be actually close to production cars. I’d like to see that a lot.